Monday, December 30
East Lansing, Mich.
3 PM
Michigan State University
11-2,2-0Big Ten
80
vs
62
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Western Michigan
3-9,0-0MAC
1
2
F
Western Mich.
24
38
62
Michigan St.
37
43
80
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell
Akins Scores 18 Points, No. 18/15 Michigan State Beats Western Michigan, 80-62
12/30/2024 6:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Senior guard Jaden Akins scored 18 points to lead two players in double figures as No. 18/15 Michigan State used a late run in the second half and held off Western Michigan, 80-62, at the Breslin Center on Monday afternoon.
Akins scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the first half as the Spartans took a 13-point lead as two players scored in double figures for MSU, with junior center Carson Cooper scoring a career-high 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Senior center Szymon Zapala had 8 points and a game-high 9 rebounds, while junior guard Tre Holloman had 9 points and 5 assists and redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. finished with 3 points and a game-high 6 assists.
Records
Michigan State improves to 11-2 overall, while Western Michigan falls to 3-9.
Recap
Michigan State returns back to Big Ten Conference play at the start of the new year, traveling to play at Ohio State on Friday, Jan. 3 (FS1, 8 p.m.).
Akins scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the first half as the Spartans took a 13-point lead as two players scored in double figures for MSU, with junior center Carson Cooper scoring a career-high 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Senior center Szymon Zapala had 8 points and a game-high 9 rebounds, while junior guard Tre Holloman had 9 points and 5 assists and redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. finished with 3 points and a game-high 6 assists.
Records
Michigan State improves to 11-2 overall, while Western Michigan falls to 3-9.
Recap
- The Spartans went into the second half with a 13-point lead (37-24) and Western Michigan scored the first 10 points of the second half to cut the lead to 37-34 and MSU led by no more than 10 points over the opening 10 minutes of the second half.
- Western Michigan pulled to within 59-52 with 7:26 left before MSU scored six-straight points and took a 65-52 lead on free throws from Carr at the 5:06 mark.
- Free throws from Donovan Williams made it 65-56 (4:19) and the Spartans responded with eight-straight points and extended their lead to 73-56 (2:35) on two more free throws from Carr.
- A jumper from junior guard Nick Sanders gave MSU its biggest lead, 80-60, with 35 seconds left.
- Michigan State led by 13 points, 37-24, at the break, but Western Michigan scored the first 10 points of the second half and pulled to within 37-34 on a 3-pointer from Owen Lobsinger just under three minutes into the second half.
- The Spartans extended their lead back to eight points, 42-34, following a layup from Zapala and a 3-pointer from Akins at the 17:28 mark and a dunk from Cooper gave MSU a 49-41 lead.
- Western Michigan pulled back to within four points, 49-45, on a jumper from Chansey Willis Jr. with 11:56 left but the Spartans responded with a 9-2 run over 2:13 and took a 58-47 lead on a jumper from Zapala with 9:30 left to play.
- Despite 11 first half turnovers, the Spartans went into the break with a 37-24 lead after Zapala put-back a missed shot at the buzzer.
- Junior guard Tre Holloman hit MSU's first shot of the game, a 3-pointer nine seconds into the contest but Western responded with an 8-0 run and took an 8-3 lead on a 3-pointer from Brandon Muntu at the 17:07 mark.
- The Broncos took their biggest lead, 11-5, at 15:15 after a 3-pointer from JaVaughn Hannah.
- MSU responded with a 13-0 run over 3:34 and took an 18-11 lead on a free throw from Fears and a pair from senior forward Frankie Fidler er following a technical on the WMU bench at 11:33.
- Western Michigan cut the lead to 18-13 before a dunk from sophomore forward Xavier Booker gave MSU a 27-18 lead at 7:13 and forced the Broncos to call a timeout.
- That was part of an 11-4 lead capped off by an alley-oop dunk from junior center Carson Cooper at the 4:00 mark, giving MSU a 33-22 lead before Zapala's put-back extended the margin to 13 points.
- The Spartans shot 50.0 percent from the floor (27-of-54).
- MSU out-rebounded Western Michigan, 37-30, including 20-14 in the second half.
- Michigan State connected on 90.9 percent of its free throws (20-of-22).
- The Spartans received 41 points from their bench and had a 41-18 advantage in bench points.
- Michigan State tied a season-high with 17 turnovers.
- Michigan State leads the all-time series with Western Michigan, 29-11, and has won the last nine meetings between the teams.
- MSU is 23-7 all-time in East Lansing against WMU and 5-0 at the Breslin Center.
- Head Coach Tom Izzo's career record improved to 718-297.
- This was the ninth time the team has scored at least 80 points (9-0).
- Michigan State is 10-0 when leading at the half this season.
- The Spartans connected on 50.0 percent of their field goals, the sixth time this year hitting at least half of their shots from the floor (6-0).
- MSU held WMU below 50.0 percent shooting from the floor (41.4 percent), the 12th time this season an opponent was below 50.0 percent (10-2).
- The Spartans are 11-0 when outshooting their opponent (50.0% to 41.4%).
- Michigan State is 10-1 when controlling the battle of the boards.
- Michigan State hit 90.9 percent of its free throws (20-of-22), the ninth time this season connecting on at least 80 percent.
- The Spartans continue to get support from its bench, scoring 41 points, the 12th time in 13 games with at least 30 points and the seventh time this season with at least 40.
- MSU scored 23 points on the fast break, the seventh time this season with at least 20 points.
- Jaden Akins finished with a game-high 18 points, his 10th time in double figures this year and the 44th of his career.
- It was his fifth time leading the team in scoring this year and the ninth of his career.
- Akins has now scored 959 points in his career at Michigan State.
- Carson Cooper set a career best in points (13) while tying a season-high with 6 rebounds.
- It was his second game scoring in double figures this year and the fourth of his career.
- Cooper blocked a season-high 2 shots.
- Jeremy Fears Jr. handed out a game-high six assists.
- This was his eighth game leading the team and the 10th with at least five.
- Syzmon Zapala grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds, a new season-high.
- This was his third time leading the team in rebounding and the 13th of his career (including Longwood and Utah State).
Michigan State returns back to Big Ten Conference play at the start of the new year, traveling to play at Ohio State on Friday, Jan. 3 (FS1, 8 p.m.).
Team Stats
WMU
MSU
FG%
.414
.500
3FG%
.304
.300
FT%
.412
.909
RB
30
37
TO
17
17
STL
8
6
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
C
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